Dinosaur Valley State Park is a 1,524 acre state park located about 1.5 hours drive southwest of Dallas. It is best known for well-preserved dinosaur footprints. In addition to the dinosaur tracks, the park is also popular for swimming and camping.

113 million years ago parts of Texas had a tropical climate and bordered of a warm shallow sea. Dinosaurs including Pleurocoelus (herbivore) and Acrocanthosaurus (carnivore) passed through here and left footprints in the mud by the shore. Sediments collected in these depressions and then hardened over time to preserve the tracks. More recently a local river eroded layers of earth and uncovered the footprints. Discovered in the 1930’s, a number of footprints were excavated for private collections, some were vandalized and others were removed for museum collections in New York and Austin, Texas. Remaining footprints were protected when Texas purchased the land in 1968.

This park is all about the dinosaur tracks. They are some of the best-preserved tracks you will ever see. Some tracks are viewable from the shore but to see most of them means walking through the river. Therefore it is best to go in the spring, summer or fall. It is also important to call ahead and make sure that the river is clear before going for a visit. The state park includes two huge sculptures of dinosaurs, which were created for a 1964 World’s Fair, and also includes a small museum with displays and a short video. If you are considering a visit, it’s not often that can you view footprints of animals that lived over 100 million years ago. When in the Dallas area, this is a great place to experience a firsthand connection with ancient life.4

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